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Meet the @Cessna SkyCourier UX, a new concept for autonomous contested logistics from @TextronAviation and Merlin.
No cockpit. A nose that opens for straight-in loading. Built on a proven airframe, powered by Merlin Pilot.
Revealed today at #AFA2026.
Learn more: businesswire.com/news/home/2026…
No cockpit. A nose that opens for straight-in loading. Built on a proven airframe, powered by Merlin Pilot.
Revealed today at #AFA2026.
Learn more: businesswire.com/news/home/2026…
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Merlin has a new home for U.S. flight operations: North Central State Airport in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
The move supports our expanding test fleet, including the addition of a Beechcraft King Air, first flown by Merlin Pilot this month, and an L-39 Albatros, our first owned ortant step in extending Merlin Pilot toward tactical mission profiles and high performance military missions.
Read more here. globenewswire.com/news-release/2…
The move supports our expanding test fleet, including the addition of a Beechcraft King Air, first flown by Merlin Pilot this month, and an L-39 Albatros, our first owned ortant step in extending Merlin Pilot toward tactical mission profiles and high performance military missions.
Read more here. globenewswire.com/news-release/2…
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The L-39 Albatros is the first jet in Merlin's test fleet, and its broader flight envelope can help train Merlin Pilot for faster, more tactical missions. Autonomy for any aircraft.
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Meet the newest addition to Merlin’s test fleet: the Aero L-39C Albatros.
Serving as our dedicated jet testbed, the L-39 will support development of Merlin Pilot for tactical aircraft and dynamic military missions with its higher speeds, a wider operating envelope, and dows.
Read more here. merlinlabs.com/news/merlin-ad…
Serving as our dedicated jet testbed, the L-39 will support development of Merlin Pilot for tactical aircraft and dynamic military missions with its higher speeds, a wider operating envelope, and dows.
Read more here. merlinlabs.com/news/merlin-ad…
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Over the weekend, Merlin completed the first flight of the next generation of the Merlin Pilot. To our knowledge, it was also the first autonomous flight of a King Air C90, a workhorse of the global ISR fleet.
The software version on board represents a step change in n, designed not only to fly aircraft autonomously, but to leverage sensors to make mission choices typically reserved for humans. We’re building it to execute missions like maritime search and patrol, one of today’s most pressing security missions, in a fundamentally different way than they are today.
Saturday’s flight kicks off an intense flight test campaign to test the system capability. Importantly, this version of Merlin Pilot lays the groundwork for what we believe could be the United States' first fully autonomous (versus pre-programmed or remotely piloted) operational group 5 platform next year, with thousands of pounds of payload and thousands of miles of range.
Last, but certainly not least, we expect this version of the Merlin Pilot will also help us build the foundation for other tactical applications for our software, on platforms that are markedly different from what we’ve previously flown.
(Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements in the first comment.)
The software version on board represents a step change in n, designed not only to fly aircraft autonomously, but to leverage sensors to make mission choices typically reserved for humans. We’re building it to execute missions like maritime search and patrol, one of today’s most pressing security missions, in a fundamentally different way than they are today.
Saturday’s flight kicks off an intense flight test campaign to test the system capability. Importantly, this version of Merlin Pilot lays the groundwork for what we believe could be the United States' first fully autonomous (versus pre-programmed or remotely piloted) operational group 5 platform next year, with thousands of pounds of payload and thousands of miles of range.
Last, but certainly not least, we expect this version of the Merlin Pilot will also help us build the foundation for other tactical applications for our software, on platforms that are markedly different from what we’ve previously flown.
(Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements in the first comment.)
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This post contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about flight testing, capability development, applications for our software, and a potential operational Group 5 platform next year. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including without limitation the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update these statements except as required by law.
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How does a nation of 18,000 people monitor a maritime domain the size of Texas?
The President of Palau believes autonomy is part of the answer. "Presence is deterrence," he told us when he visited Merlin's test facility in Rhode Island earlier this year.
The President of Palau believes autonomy is part of the answer. "Presence is deterrence," he told us when he visited Merlin's test facility in Rhode Island earlier this year.
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Merlin CEO and Founder @NotMattGeorge was recently part of the "Integrating AI for Combat Effects" panel at @AFA_Air_Space's Air, Space & Cyber Conference, where he discussed the parts of autonomy nobody puts in a highlight reel, and why they're what stands between possible and fielded.
Thunderstorms you can't fly through and detours you can't fly around. The importance of certification. Getting new systems onto airframes built in the 1950s.
Matt took the action layer of the AI stack, alongside @petrguerra of @Oracle on data, William Duhe of @SierraNevCorp on perception, and @rtsengusa of @shieldaitech on coordination. Moderated by Col Toni Gray of HQ @aircombatcmd A3/AI.
Watch the replay here. youtube.com/watch?v=bFSGe_…
Thunderstorms you can't fly through and detours you can't fly around. The importance of certification. Getting new systems onto airframes built in the 1950s.
Matt took the action layer of the AI stack, alongside @petrguerra of @Oracle on data, William Duhe of @SierraNevCorp on perception, and @rtsengusa of @shieldaitech on coordination. Moderated by Col Toni Gray of HQ @aircombatcmd A3/AI.
Watch the replay here. youtube.com/watch?v=bFSGe_…
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The path to full aviation autonomy passes through an important commercial stop: crewed aircraft where software still transforms flight and fleet economics.
Crew costs exceed $45 billion annually in the United States alone, a pilot shortfall of more than 28,000 is projected by 2030, and the addressable fleet runs past 29,000 aircraft, all of which carry a crew today. That's the kind of recurring, structural problem that calls out for a software solution.
Merlin's business model is being built around it: adapt Merlin Pilot to an aircraft, integrate it, and collect a recurring license fee for the life of the software.
Read more here. merlinlabs.com/news/one-seat-…
Crew costs exceed $45 billion annually in the United States alone, a pilot shortfall of more than 28,000 is projected by 2030, and the addressable fleet runs past 29,000 aircraft, all of which carry a crew today. That's the kind of recurring, structural problem that calls out for a software solution.
Merlin's business model is being built around it: adapt Merlin Pilot to an aircraft, integrate it, and collect a recurring license fee for the life of the software.
Read more here. merlinlabs.com/news/one-seat-…
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Meet Brian Zarchin, Merlin's General Manager of Tactical Autonomy.
Brian flew the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior in combat and spent his Army career at the intersection of aviation and uncrewed systems. Now he's building Merlin's Tactical Autonomy business from the ground up, and the personal.
In our latest team spotlight, Brian talks about what it takes to turn an idea into an enterprise, why trust is the foundation of everything, and what delivering autonomy to warfighters means to him. merlinlabs.com/news/autonomy-…
Brian flew the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior in combat and spent his Army career at the intersection of aviation and uncrewed systems. Now he's building Merlin's Tactical Autonomy business from the ground up, and the personal.
In our latest team spotlight, Brian talks about what it takes to turn an idea into an enterprise, why trust is the foundation of everything, and what delivering autonomy to warfighters means to him. merlinlabs.com/news/autonomy-…
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Merlin is building Merlin Pilot, a single autonomy core designed to fly any aircraft.
Over the last six months, every milestone tells the same story: the same system advancing onto more airframes, through more regulatory gates, with more commercial and defense partners behind st connects the dots. merlinlabs.com/news/one-brain…
Over the last six months, every milestone tells the same story: the same system advancing onto more airframes, through more regulatory gates, with more commercial and defense partners behind st connects the dots. merlinlabs.com/news/one-brain…
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Merlin was invited to demonstrate its aircraft-agnostic autonomous flight platform at the kickoff of the @TxDOT’s Project NEXUS eIPP in front of federal, congressional, and state officials.
Read why that invitation matters, what the demonstration proved, and why programs like moves from development toward safe deployment at scale. merlinlabs.com/news/quick-tak…
Read why that invitation matters, what the demonstration proved, and why programs like moves from development toward safe deployment at scale. merlinlabs.com/news/quick-tak…
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Runways are a luxury contested logistics doesn't have.
That's the problem Merlin and @TextronAviation are aiming the @Cessna SkyCourier UX concept at.
"There's been a lot of wargaming that's happened over the past 12-24 months around, 'Hey, if we did have to go operate in areas ily control 10,000-foot runways, where would that break down?'" — @NotMattGeorge, Merlin CEO
More in @axios' Future of Defense newsletter, from @demarest_colin. axios.com/2026/09/16/air…
That's the problem Merlin and @TextronAviation are aiming the @Cessna SkyCourier UX concept at.
"There's been a lot of wargaming that's happened over the past 12-24 months around, 'Hey, if we did have to go operate in areas ily control 10,000-foot runways, where would that break down?'" — @NotMattGeorge, Merlin CEO
More in @axios' Future of Defense newsletter, from @demarest_colin. axios.com/2026/09/16/air…
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“We can’t devote C-130s and C-17s to do a lot of these little shuttle missions, [so] that’s where you’re going to need smaller platforms.” - Retired Maj. Gen. Kyle Kremer, Merlin Advisor
Meet the @Cessna SkyCourier UX, a concept pairing @TextronAviation's proven Cessna h Merlin Pilot autonomy to explore new approaches to contested logistics in the Pacific.
Learn more in this @BreakingDefense article by @SydneyFreedberg. breakingdefense.com/2026/09/textro…
Meet the @Cessna SkyCourier UX, a concept pairing @TextronAviation's proven Cessna h Merlin Pilot autonomy to explore new approaches to contested logistics in the Pacific.
Learn more in this @BreakingDefense article by @SydneyFreedberg. breakingdefense.com/2026/09/textro…
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Day 1 of @AFA_Air_Space's Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
From introducing our @Cessna SkyCourier UX concept with @TextronAviation to meeting with the @usairforce, we’ve hit the ground running.
Come find us at Booth #235.
From introducing our @Cessna SkyCourier UX concept with @TextronAviation to meeting with the @usairforce, we’ve hit the ground running.
Come find us at Booth #235.
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